Dear ICIS participant,

Welcome to the 2002 International Conference on Information Systems in Barcelona. “Meeting the Challenges of a Global Networked Economy” is our theme, and we believe it addresses the pressing issues that society, and our profession in particular, is facing as 2002 comes to an end. We live in a completely interconnected world; economic and political decisions in one end of the world spread like wildfire and affect us all. And Information and Communication technologies are in the center of it. Our responsibilities as researchers and teachers impel us to study these issues and their effect on our subject matter. 

We are in Barcelona, a city that has been involved in “globalization” since the Roman Empire era. Founded by Romans as a sea port for trade and commerce, Barcelona is still today one of the busiest ports in the Mediterranean sea. We encourage you to visit its Roman ruins, medieval quarters and buildings, late 1900’s modernist buildings, and its many museums and parks. As the home town of architect Antonio Gaudí and painters Miró and Tàpies, the city offers you many cultural alternatives. Our gala dinner will be held at the National Museum of Catalonia, a center of Romanesque and Gothic art.. We hope you will spend some time feeling the city’s beat by strolling through its streets and boulevards (Ramblas). 2002 is the Year of Gaudi (Any Gaudi) with events and exhibits around the city to celebrate the influence of this notable citizen and highlight the mark that he made on the architecture of Barcelona. Having hosted the 1992 Olympic Games, Barcelona is preparing to once again attract global attention as the organizers of the 2004 Forum of the Cultures. The city will host demonstrations and debates about cultural trends around the world.

The Program Committee has worked very hard for more than seven months to put together an extraordinary set of papers in six tracks. This year we decided to change the track definition from previous years, making the program more conceptual and less IS-function related. We believe this will better focus your contributions toward solving the challenges of the networked economy. This  year we also have a record number of ancillary meetings to be held prior to the conference. Universities in Barcelona have loaned us their rooms for many of these, and most probably, you will already have been in one of them when you read this welcome letter. Thanks to all the individual organizers for putting together such a great variety of meetings to accompany ICIS while in Barcelona.

The Doctoral Consortium will take place in Sant Feliu de Guixols, a coastal village North of Barcelona. We have chosen a summer resort that will provide the perfect setting for doctoral students and faculty to share their research interests and we have no doubt that it will be a memorable experience for all of them.

We owe our thanks to all sponsors, corporate and local, that are listed at the end of the program. In particular, we would like to mention our Platinum Sponsors, Microsoft and Microsoft Research Institute. Without sponsorship, it would be extremely difficult to organize these conferences outside the United States.

A final note of thanks goes to all the people that have helped make this ICIS meeting a reality, from the Atlanta Office personnel to our colleagues at ESADE and IESE. This conference, as is often the case, is not the result of one individual’s actions, but a collection of small and not-so-small contributions of many people; to all of you,  our heartfelt thanks.



Francesc Miralles
Josep Valor

Conference co-Chairs